Vulcan's Skill Order

Backfire

Inferno Cannon

Magma Bomb

Earthshaker

Newbie Friendly Quick Guide (skip ahead for more advanced)

I go fairly in depth regarding this build and how to use it, but this is your basic 'aint nobody got time for this' newbie guide. To keep it fast, we'll use a list.

Build exactly as shown, modifying is not recommended for new players, the build is adaptable enough on its own

Vulcan is incredibly versatile, he can go middle, left or right lanes with any partner

Between levels 1-5 kill all the minions in your lane, gather gold like a leprechaun

After this feel free to move to other lanes if yours is safe (your tower is not going to die to enemies or minions) and help them

Remember, you push (clear out minions and get closer to the enemy tower) harder than virtually everyone else

Stay back and don't be too concerned with kills, especially between levels 1-10. All you need to do is push, your team should take care of the deicides

Be calm, tactical and never afraid to escape if your lane is pushed enough

Introduction

Vulcan? Isn't he that god that hardly anyone plays? Isn't he like Bastet but with better animations?

Nope.

He's the best God in Smite if you ignore the infinite horrors of an overfed Apollo. Why you ask? Have some simple bullet points:

Incredibly hard pusher

Versatile, can play any lane and roam freely

Can turret dive like a mad Fenrir

Comes with huge protections right out of the box

Can gank and is can form the basis of teamfights

Can also split push and solo lane with ease

Has a skin that makes him Black

Understanding the Items

This is pretty simply really, as you can probably tell by the purchase order. It doesn't need to be complex with such a versatile lane driver as Vulcan at the helm! Many guides suggest going pure tank with Vulcan, stacking off of his already impressive protections. This is a bit different, Magic Power is key here. Instead of building only his protections, we exploit how good they already are. By going for this more mixed build that focuses on establishing magic power first and then increasing this further as you stack health on top of your Ethereal Staff.

The purchased order is not set in stone by any means, although the Reinforced Boots, Ethereal Staff and the Meditation are essential. Most of the time level 2 Meditation will suit you fine and is the reason we avoid any potions in this build. Vulcan will just eat through Mana and the potions are not efficient or economical enough for him. His large protections and incredible push mean he simply does not need health potions. The Meditation is all you need for world class sustain.

if looking to edit on this build but retain its general style think along these lines:

Reinforced Boots, Meditation, Ethereal Staff

Then... just stack health!

Everything else is optional, what you put in in addition to health is your choice.

Why the Hammer at the end you ask? by this point in the build you're mostly going to know whether you've won or not. The Hammer gives you a quick infusion of health and physical power (for pushing turrets and phoenixes) that allow you to end game (helpful against Fire Giant and Gold Fury too!).

Skill Order

The Skill Sequence presented in this guide is not clear cut, and is largely a matter of personal preference. My logic is that the Inferno Cannon is simply Vulcan's best ability, with Thumper and Backfire performing support roles in regards to it. As such, I always try and keep it one level above everything else. Always pick up your ultimate at every opportunity though, it turns Vulcan from a pushing machine to a pushing and killing machine (plus its a great escape if necessary).

Team Composition and God Select

On the god select screen, you can pretty much feel free to instantly lock in. Vulcan goes well with anything, although this build performs slightly better in the mid lane, it is marginal and you can play anywhere, therefore make yourself open and easy, allowing the other, more specialised gods to select lanes and roles where they are strongest. You adapt around them, such is the glory of Vulcan. This will not hurt your performance at all. Vulcan is so incredibly versatile (have I said that enough yet?) that he can lane with practically anyone. Quick gankers and chasers are ideal as they counteract your slightly slow movement speed. Good crowd control is also recommend, as Vulcan suffers in this department

Gods that work exceptionally well as lane partners:

Fenrir
Hades
Artemis
Neith
Arachne
Sun Wukong

Using the Build in Play

This is again very simple. Your roll is to push and push you shall. I have mentioned ganking, roaming and teamfight utility previously. You cannot do this until you have your ultimate, therefore push your lane and support your lane partner with his gank attempts if any are made, but make sure you stay back and keep the lane sustained. Keep your gold high, as Vulcan the Versatile you should be getting about as much gold as a dedicated jungler would (although this will tail off towards the end of the match). If you're gold is not anywhere near this point, consider looking at roaming! (Discussed below.)

Your ultimate boosts the capabilities of your turrets while boosting your movement speed tremendously. Therefore you utilise this heavily in order to gank and support in teamfights (as well as the kill the fire giant quickly).

To Roam or Not to Roam?

This depends very much on the situation. If your lane is doing tremendously well and the others are being pushed back hard, switch up. Push the inferior lanes hard before going back to sustain yours again. This takes a lot of pressure off of your team-mates! It's crucial! In some games and with some team compostions you can find yourself needing to be almost the only push. But that's fine, you can do it, you are Vulcan the Versatile after all. Don't worry about kills. If you push enough they will come, and all the tower ganks as Vulcan require a huge push anyway.

Tower Ganking

Push hard, very hard so you not letting any of their minions out of their turrets radius. If they are this point they will lose health gradually trying to poke out at you and keep your minions away from their precious tower. Once they reach a certain health threshold (usually between one third and one quarter (although of course this varies a lot and you need to use your discretion) jump in with our next minion wave, using them to take the fire from the turret, throw down your Inferno Cannon and you Thumper, immediately hit your ult before they know what has hit them. Fire your Backfire at them to escape (the turret will begin shooting as you as soon as they begin to take damage from your deployables). If they were weak and confused enough then expect some kills or assists to come your way!

Teamfights

In Teamfights you want to block off the enemies' escape with your Thumper whilst ensuring a consistent stream of damage is coming from your Inferno Cannon. You will do very little damage with your auto-attack, so don't even try to get involve in the melee. Just wait in a position to catch runners with your Backfire. Sound simple? It is! Enjoy!

Jungling (Gold Fury and Fire Giant)

Vulcan can jungle, but that doesn't mean you want to. His turrets take agro from the creeps, but you simply can't get enough single target damage on them for it to be worthwhile. You'll get much more gold and experience from just utilising your pushing skills in lane. The exception to this are the two big bads, the Gold Fury and the Fire Giant.

Gold Fury

Loki, Xbalanque, Arachne, Fenrir. These are all gods that are much better at soloing the Gold Fury than Vulcan, but if no one else is doing it, and you're clear (your lane is pushed out really far because you're Vulcan and that's how you roll, but the other lanes don't need too much support) you may as well, although you will need to be quite a high level, so that your turrets survive long enough. About 13 is probably the best time to attempt it.

Place your Inferno Cannon and Thumper in front of and behind the Gold Fury, respectively. She will aim for these first

Auto-attack her continuously

Place down new deployables every time they die to keep agro off you and damage up

Use ultimate if necessary, but it is most often not.

Fire Giant

Pretty much the same idea s the Gold Fury, except you can't solo it, all you need is to be above level 15 and with a high damage dealer supporting you (Fenrir, Arachne, Loki, Freya Wukong, Bakasura etc. etc.). Again the plan is to get agro with your turrets, this time pop your ultimate as soon as possible to speed up the risky process of taking him down as a two man (not from him, but from marauding enemies). He'll go down quick enough, simple.

Does this hold up on the pro/ ranked scene?

Probably not, no. But then again, the pro ranked scene is a different kettle of fish from the casual queues entirely. Things that work well in one simply don't in the other due to conflicting meta games. That said, I have not tried it extensively and feedback on this point is more than welcome.

Summary

Versatile, do not be afraid to change up tactics, lanes or priorities!

Best sustained pusher in the game, use this to your advantage!

Make sure your magic power is high for high deployable damage!

Can solo Gold Fury, can two man Fire Giant!

Can gank easily underneath towers!

Great support/ indirect damage in Teamfights, but stick to the edges and be ready to kill those who flee!

SmiteFire & Smite

Smite is an online battleground between mythical gods. Players choose from a selection of gods, join session-based arena combat and use custom powers and team tactics against other players and minions. Smite is inspired by Defense of the Ancients (DotA) but instead of being above the action, the third-person camera brings you right into the combat. And, instead of clicking a map, you use WASD to move, dodge, and fight your way through the detailed graphics of SMITE's battlegrounds.